La Santità del Matrimonio

On the Italian scene, the conservative government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is usually seen as being closer to the church than its Leftist predecessors.

Yet even so, the ever-colorful, twice-married media titan -- who was forced to publicly apologize to his wife, Veronica Lario, after being spotted "flirting with showgirls" in 2007 -- is headed for another divorce:

La Repubblica reported that Lario is looking to end the couple's 19 years of marriage.

She made the decision Tuesday, following reports that her husband, 72, went to the birthday party in Naples of an 18-year-old girl, according to La Repubblica reporter Dario Cresto-Dina.

Cresto-Dina told CNN, "In Veronica's words, 'This time he went beyond the limit with this latest public humiliation. I want to close this chapter on this marriage.'"

The Italian newspaper La Stampa and news agency ANSA also reported that Lario wants to end the marriage.

Berlusconi and Lario have three children together, all born in the 1980s, before the couple was married in 1990.

Berlusconi famously met Lario after he saw her perform topless in a play in 1980. He has described the moment as "love at first sight."

During the 2006 general election, "Berlusca" -- then in his second occupancy of the Chigi -- publicly pledged "absolute sexual abstinence" for the campaign's duration to an Italian priest.

He lost.

PHOTO: Getty

-30-